## Colophon tags:: url:: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html %% title:: The Washington Post’s Strategy Is to Do Whatever Jeff Bezos Wants type:: [[clipped-note]] author:: [[@nymag.com]] %% ## Notes > The Washington Post’s Strategy Is to Do Whatever Jeff Bezos Wants — [view in context](https://hyp.is/_3g8KPTOEe-om68l4Gx-LA/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) ⬆️ date:: [[2025-02-27]] > By Charlotte Klein, — [view in context](https://hyp.is/Ainq3vTPEe-yYj8jps5c6Q/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) > But behind the scenes, Lewis had pointed out to Bezos that the change would have consequences for the health of the paper, according to a source familiar with conversations around the decision. This is ostensibly because the “Opinions” section is a crucial component of Lewis’s vision for revitalizing the Post, the second of three newsrooms he outlined in his big plan to drive subscriptions and increase reader engagement. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/DDe7KPTPEe-C9Otvg2siFw/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) > “You have an owner whose political perspectives are evolving quite rapidly and who, like a lot of billionaires, lives outside of consequence,” said one Post insider. “This is probably not a great commercial move, but he has the cash to be careless.” — [view in context](https://hyp.is/EwrOSvTPEe-1esM_-UWzbg/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) > Bezos has now made it clear that he intends to use the Post as an instrument of his own ideas and agenda after years in which he let Marty Baron, Fred Hiatt, and other editors steer the ship. “Jeff has clearly shifted his relationship with the paper from distant steward to person who has a plaything, and he’s demonstrated a kind of impetuousness and a little bit of careless disregard that are very familiar to public life right now,” the Post insider noted. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/HW7QtvTPEe-KUnP7xiXwCw/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) > What this decision means for “Opinions” staffers who don’t align with Bezos’s viewpoint remains to be seen. (Or even for those who do: “I’m very much in favor of free markets and individual liberty, but I never signed up to be a mouthpiece for Jeff Bezos or anyone else,” as one staffer put it.) — [view in context](https://hyp.is/nKai3PTPEe-oJcOCQjleRg/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) > “No one has ever told me what to write,” White House reporter Dan Diamond wrote on X. “If that changes, I’d speak out and leave.” Executive editor Matt Murray assured reporters that Bezos had no desire to do so. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/2qv7VPTPEe-Zl6O2QXy81A/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) ⬆️ hmmm... > The opinion section “is traditionally the provenance of the owner at news organizations,” Murray wrote in a memo to the newsroom. “The independent and unbiased work of the Post’s newsroom remains unchanged, and we will continue to pursue engaging, impactful journalism without fear or favor.” — [view in context](https://hyp.is/7XbqvvTPEe-0xpNsTb6Q9w/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html) ⬆️ Brb, starting a timer on this... > “He’s making it hard for the reporters of the Washington Post to do their jobs. It’s his paper — I get that — but it just feels like a joke,” one staffer said. “Is Jeff Bezos going to allow the Washington Post editorial page to write things about freedom of speech for people he doesn’t like? Or to write about free markets and how Amazon is a threat?” — [view in context](https://hyp.is/HSS_FvTQEe-6Q_NzfqjxrQ/nymag.com/intelligencer/article/the-washington-posts-strategy-is-to-do-jeff-bezoss-bidding.html)